Vehicle actuated gate



y 1951 c. J. PIPER VEHICLE ACTUATED GATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 17, 1958 INVENTOR.

64122 J. Ph se United States Patent VEHICLE ACTUATED GATE Carl J. Piper, Rte. 3, wat mwn, Wis. FiledNov. 17,1958, Ser. No. 774,245 1 Claim. or. 39-22 The present invention relates in general to improve ments in road trafiic controls, and it relates more'specifically to improvements in the construction and oper ation of gate assemblages for gateways leading to and I from enclosed areas v in which animals such as live-stock are confined.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an leading into and out of such confining areas, and to also provide efficient gates at the access zones for these areas. Since these roads or gateways are frequently travelled by vehicles such as trucks and automobiles, and in order to avoid necessity of having the driver disembark from the vehicle, it is highly desirable to provide some means for opening and closing these gates with the aid of the advancing vehicle alone. .While many different types' of assemblage's andmechanisms for controlling the opening and closing of doors and gates with aid of approaching ,vehicles have heretofore been proposed, all of these 1 are not properly", adapted for. effective usein controlling farmandranch gates located in the open and which are subjected to varying (weather conditions, either because they are-toofrailand complicated, or 'because they are too costly to-install andto maintain in operatingcondition.

It is therefore animportaht object of my invention to provide an improved gate assemblage especially adapted for farmor ranch gateway traffic control, which is ruge.

ged but; simple in construction, and-is also adapted to be etfectively' actuated by a an improved vehicle actuatedgate which is extremely devehicle or other object traversing thegateway. v I

Another important object of this invention is to provide 1 pendable in action and functions automatically-to open and close. I

, A further important object of the invention is to provide an improved gate'especially adaptedto confine livestock within fenced areas suchas farms or ranches, and which comprises'only afew simple parts capable of functioning most effectively out in, the open 'with minimum attention. I Still; another importantjobject oftthe present invention is vto provide' an improvedgate unit w hi ch is operable to openanid'cl ose bjy avehicle or the likelftraveling-along the"gatewayih either direction," without requiring the driver to leave the vehicle.

An additional important object of this inventionis to provide an improved gate structure which is safely operable, and wherein the gate isj'positively latched and maintained in both closed and open position until the operator desires to release the same. These and other more specific objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description.

A clear conception of the several features constituting the present improvement, and of the construction and operation of a vehicle actuated gate assemblage embodying the invention, may be had by referring to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, wherein like reference characters designate the same or similar parts in the various views.

Figure l is a general view looking along the gateway and directly toward the gate in closed position;

Figure 2 is a-top view of the entire gate installation, with the gate closed and about to be opened by an approaching vehicle, a fragment of which is shown in dotand-dash lines;

Figure 3 is another general view looking transversely of the gateway directly toward the open gate;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the central vehicle actuated gate release and opening mechanism of the unit;

Figure 5 is another enlarged'fragrnentary perspective view of the swinging end of the closed gate and of the main latch for holding the gate closed; and

Figure 6 is still another enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the pivotally suspended end of the opengate and of the, auxiliary latch mechanism for holding gate open.

While the invention has 'been shown and described herein as having been embodied in a farm-yard, gate adapted to be opened in opposite directions, it is not in-. tended to confine the improved features to use in such .installations, and it is also contemplated that specific descriptive terms employed herein be given the broadest possible interpretation consistent closure.

Referring to the drawings, the improvedgate assemblage shown therein, comprises in general, a pairof supports such as posts 8, 9, located on opposite sides ofa gateway; a gate 10 having one end pivotally mounted upon the post 8 to swingin either direction across or away from the gateway; a main latch 11 carried bythe able by an object such as a vehicle 14 traversing the gate-* way in either direction to-release the main latch'll and to open the gate 10; azpairflof complementary auxiliary I: latches 15 carried by the post 8 and being alternately cooperable with a lug 16 on the gate 10' to. positively? hold the latter open-in opposite directions; and vehicle 1 actuated hydraulic devices: 17 coacting with the auxiliary latches 15 and being operable torelease, these latch'esso i as to permit the gate 10 toclose when the'vehicle has advanced a predetermined distance along the gateway.

The upright posts 8, 9 may be formedof durable rod or pipe stock firmly anchored in the ground at the opposite sides of theroadorgateway and may also serve forfattachment of ,wire'fencing 19 providing an enclosure for 'a live-stock or farmconfining area or the like. The gate 1 0 may also be durably formed of sections of metal pipeiwelded together, andis ofirectangular shape except.v for, the end member 20 which is slightly inclined relative to theparallel top and bottom rails 21,-122, respectively p and is journalled for rotation in off-set upper and lower bearings 23, 24, respectively secured to the upright post 8. This inclination of the pivot member 20 and disposition of the axes of the bearings 23, 24, in afplaneper pendicular to the-gateway when the gate 10'is closed as in Figures land 2, caused the swingingend ofthe gate toris'e as in Figure {when it is swungopen in g ifl-j q and ismaintainedopen by either cat-,the auxiliary Patented May 2, 1961 with the actual dislatches 15, but when the holding latch 15 is released, the weight of the elevated swinging gate end automatically causes the gate to swing into closed position by gravity.

The main latch 11 is constantly urged outwardly'of the swinging end member 25 of the gate 10 by a spring 26 as shown in Figure 5, and is connected to the ends of two independent cables 27, 28. The socket 12 which is rigidly attached to the post 9 by U-bolts as in Figures 1 and 5, has opposite inclined surfaces for compressing the spring and guiding the latch 11 into the socket recess 29, and the medial portion of the gate 10 is provided with a cylindrical upright rod 30 which is rigidly secured to the top and bottom rails 21, 22, and is provided with three brackets 31 intermediate its ends for guiding the end portions of the cables 27,28, so as to permit longitudinal sliding thereof in opposite directions about the round rod 30. The inverted V-shaped main latch actuator 13 is formed of rigid channel stock and is swingably suspended from the top rail 21 of the gate 10 by a hearing 32, while the lower end portions of the relatively inclined actuator legs are rigidly united by a single arcuate bar 33 which is slidable through an opening in a plate 34 firmly secured to the lower rail 22 and to the adjacent end of the rod 30 of the gate 10 as shown in Figure 4. Helical compression springs 35 embrace the bar 33 and coact with the opposite sides of the plate 34 so as to constantly urge the actuator 13 toward midposition, and the ends of the cables 27, 28 beyond the brackets 31 are firmly attached to the legs of the inverted V-shaped actuator 13.

The auxiliary holding latches which are alternately cooperable with the lug 16 secured to the lower gate rail 22 and are alternately cooperable with this lug to maintain the gate 10 open in either direction as in Figure 3,

are both swingably secured to a pivot shaft 37 carried by a support 38 firmly bolted to the lower portion of the advancing vehicle to pass, and when the front right wheel of the vehicle 14 contacts the hydraulic receptacle 41 located in its path the corresponding hydraulic device 17 functions to release the active auxiliary latch 15. As soon as this latch 15 is thus released and the vehicle 14 has travelled far enough to clear the gate 10, the latter will automatically swing by gravity from open to closed position and the main latch under the influence of the springs 26, will again engage the socket recess 29.

Such actuation of the gate 10 may obviously be effected by a vehicle 14 or similar body advancing along the gateway in either direction, and while the initial contact of the vehicle with the latch actuator 13 should be rather slow and gentle, the speed of the traversing vehicle may be rapidly increased so as to swing the gate 10 open sufiiciently so that its holding lug 16 will be engaged by an auxiliary latch 15. The various latches and bearings of the assemblage should be occasionally lubricated with grease or oil, and the liquid for actuating the hydraulic devices 17 should preferably be of an anti-freeze type, but aside from such care the unit requires no further attention. The various major parts of the mechanism may be readily constructed of available piping, rod stock, and sheet metal to produce gate assemblages of various sizes; and whenever the inverted V-shaped main latch actuator 13 is released the springs 35 quickly restore it to mid-position. The cables 27, 28, should also be adjusted in length so that they will be relatively taut at all times in'order to cause the main latch 11 to be released quickly, and the improved gate unit has proven highly satisfactory and successful in actual use.

It shouldbe understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction and side post 8 as shown in detail in Figure 6. The two hydraulic devices 17 are alike, and each comprises a cylinder having a piston 39 movable upwardly therein by liquid introduced into the lower end of its cylinder through atube 40 communicating with a liquid filled 1 flexible receptacle 41 of suitable length. The tubes 40 should be of suitable length so that each of'the piston displacing receptacles 41 can be'disposed at sufiicient distance away fromthe closed gate and across the road or gateway so as'to permit the gate 10 to' swin'gopen and shut without interfering with the approaching and leaving vehicle 14 passing through the gate assemblage, and the detailed construction of the receptacles 41' is well known since they have long been availableon the open market. 7

When the improvedvehicl'eactuated gate; assemblage has been constructed and installed as above described,

latch 11 by exerting a pull on the cable 27, and to there after swing the gate 10' freely about its'pivot 20 until a the lug 16 on the lower'rail 22 is engaged by the auxiliary latch 15 located forwardly beyond the gate asin Figure 6.

During this opening pivoted movement of the gate 10, its

swinging end is elevated f as in Figure 3, and the active latch 15 will hold the gate open to permit .the more rapidly operation herein shown and described; for various modifications within the scope of the appended claim may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

In combination, a support on each of the opposite sides of a gateway, a gate having one end pivotally suspended from one of said supports while its opposite end is swingable by gravity toward the other support,

, a bar latch carried by theswing'ing end of said gate and being horizontally movable and cooperable with said othersupport to lock the gate closed, an upright rod provided with a. cylindrical'portion havingthereon diametrically opposed guide brackets disposed approximately in the horizontal plane of said latch, said rod being fixedly secured to a medial portion of the gate, a latch actuator having a vehicle contactable rigid arm on each of the opposite sides of and pivotally suspended from said gate and extending downwardly and away from the lower end of-said rod, an independent flexible cable' directly connecting a medial swinging portion of each of said arms withsaid latch, the medial portions of said cables extending in'opposite directions through said brackets and beinglongitudinally slidably cooperable directly with the cylindrical portion of said rod to release said latch,'and a coil spring coa'cting 'with'said bar latch to constantly maintain said cables in taut condition.

5 References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES'PATE'NTS 1,330,146- ,Solberg -t Feb. 10, 1 920 1,745,458 I i Spangenberg; Feb. 4, 1930 2,538,470.; Peeples Jan. 16, 1951 

